A warning has been issued to Irish shoppers that vegetables and fruit are set to shoot up in price throughout the coming weeks.
Shoppers have been noticing an increase in the cost of a weekly shop throughout recent days and weeks due to a shortage in certain vegetables leading to increased prices.
Some fruits and vegetables have seen massive increases such as peppers which shot up 300% and tomatoes which went up by 200%, according to Justin Leonard from Leonard and Sons, Dublin’s oldest fresh produce company.
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The expert explained, via Newstalks Breakfast Business, that produce such as tomatoes, cucumbers, iceberg lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli are all at risk of short supply and price increase.
“Although they’re not completely unavailable, the supplies are very very limited” Justin told the radio show.
“Prices have already started rising, they’ve been rising over the last three or four weeks but this week the prices are off the radar. I’m 36 years in the business and I've never seen a price go so high for so many products.
"Peppers, we have seen a 300% increase, tomatoes, a 200% increase, it’s across the board, it’s every single product. That is going to have to filter down to the consumer, unfortunately.
"Restaurants, cafes, your local corner shop… unfortunately prices are going to go up and that’s just a fact of life."
Justin says the shortages are a result of a combination of colder weather and the rising cost of living: "We’ve had this problem last year, it seems to be a recurring problem. We had extremely cold weather in Spain and Italy in April where a lot of soft products like lettuce would come from. Now it’s happening in February.
"Spain supplies everyone in the winter months, there’s a crossover season between the end of march and start of April, May when we go into the summer season. Due to the energy crisis, the Dutch crisis can’t afford to artificially heat their glasshouses.
"They normally start in the middle of April but are saying they will have to wait for natural light and heat until May. So now we have a gap of six weeks, it could be seven or eight, nobody knows.
“This comes after it was reported that Asda in the UK has begun limiting the amount of packets of vegetables sold to people because supplies are so scarce.
“They’re in a little bit more of a precarious situation than we are in Ireland, fortunately as we are still members of the EU.”
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